NOTE - This column started out as a review of Path Finder. However, as I began using and understanding the app, I found I had to make frequent comparisons with the Finder to do justice to this powerful app. I will highlight its most outstanding features but nothing will convince you of its superiority as well as your own experience.

Most of us are unaware of the many criticisms directed at Mac OS X's Finder since its introduction 8 years ago. I am flabbergasted at the amount of discussion; one thread at Ars Technica's OpenForum, for example, remained active for more than 8 years. (You need to register to get into the OpenForum.)

Path Finder 5 is a replacement for the Finder. Many power users, advanced users, and technical types currently use Path Finder for exactly this purpose. I'm not a power user, but I also do.

Although it is an extremely important part of our Macintosh experience, few of us ever think about the Finder. It's just there. It's part of the operating system and we never think about its underlying structure, what it was under OS 9 and its predecessors, or what it could be. These topics and more can be found at Wapedia tinyurl.com/mtlgh5, ArsTechnica.com/ arstechnica.com/, and many other sites. I think you'll find them fascinating.

Dissatisfaction with the Finder falls into three main categories. The first is the elimination of the spatial Finder of OS 9. I found the discussion a bit too theoretical and even after looking at the OS 9 Finder, I still have a problem understanding the concept. Nonetheless, this is a serious issue for a number of people. The second is a performance issue. Finder's speed is not great when taxed by heavy loads. This has never been a problem for me, but my demands upon the system are not especially heavy. The third category consists of all the oversights, errors, misconceptions and annoyances which may have been forgivable in the earliest versions of the OS X Finder, but which should have been corrected long ago.

Steve Jobs said at Apple's 2004 Worldwide Development Conference that Spotlight has the potential to replace the Finder. Many doubt that, myself included. One argument against Spotlight replacing the finder/directory functionality is that it is more efficient to immediately access related files in a folder rather than waiting for search results (which may also include unneeded files). However, files often relate to multiple subjects and thus multiple folders. I would like to tag a file with multiple keywords when it is created. Currently, you can only do this when you save a file as a PDF. This subject is of great interest to me, but it is beyond the subject of this column and review. If anyone else is interested in this subject, please contact me.

With so much dissatisfaction, it was inevitable that third-party developers would enter the fray. Path Finder 5 from Cocoatech is a superb replacement for the Finder. It includes some of the missing OS 9 features and many additional features that make it much better than the Finder. I've used it for the last two months and now use it as a replacement for the Finder.

John Siracusa has described Path Finder as a browser-style file manager that absolutely embarrasses the Finder with its many features. He said the upcoming version 4 (now one full version old) is like the Final Cut Pro of file management. It's a file browsing tour de force. This is from the guy who lambasted the OS X Finder because it dropped the spatial Finder aspects of the OS 9 Finder.

The Finder gives you about a dozen choices and preferences; Path Finder gives you more than 100. If you just do some e-mail and Web browsing, Path Finder won't provide you with much benefit. With all its preferences and features it's much more complex than the Finder. Although there are countless ways to customize Path Finder, it's usable right from the get go. Miraz Jordan at ATPM.com says that even after 18 months he still discovering new ways to use Path Finder.

The basic Path Finder window (above) resembles Finder's, with a toolbar at the top, a sidebar on the left, and a file directory in the rest of the window. If you never go beyond this standard window, you will still gain quite a few features unavailable in the Finder.

Dual pane file browser. A 5-star feature! You can vertically split the file directory area into two directory panes within the one window. You can set the view mode independently for each pane and add tabs within each pane. The dual pane file browser lets you view two distinct directories within one window, making it easy to drag a file from one directory to another. In Finder, you often have to open a second window.

In the image above, there are dual browser windows with column view on the left, and Cover Flow with list view on the right. The six numbered sections are the drawers and preview areas. Just below the main window is the drop-down Terminal display. While this particular setup is quite wide, I am able to open all these drawers on my 15-inch MacBook Pro's 1280 by 960 pixel display (although I have to scrunch it a bit). It works even better on a 24-inch monitor.

There is a row of six buttons at the bottom of the Path Finder window. Each of these buttons toggles on or off a section of the Path Finder window. Going from left to right, they are the sidebar; the dual pane file browser; preview (misnamed); and the left, bottom, and right drawers. The four left and right hand drawers can be used for more than 15 purposes, including Processes, Attributes, iTunes Browser, Recent Documents, Permissions, Sidebar, etc. Preview has two drawers, each of which can be used for the same purposes as the side drawers. It just extends into the window space, rather than out from it. The bottom drawer is for Terminal.

The problem with using all the drawers is that you need a widescreen - or the ability to read tiny fonts.

Tabbed Browsing. Another 5-star feature! Like advanced Web browsers, Path Finder has a bar which lets you open tabs within a window. When the tab is a folder, you have a drop-down menu of its contents. This feature makes it easy to quickly access the folders and files you use frequently. It cuts down on window clutter.

Bookmark Bar. This bar sits just below the toolbar, similar to Safari's Bookmarks Bar. Drag-and-drop any folder onto this bar and Path Finder will turn it into a drop-down menu--a click on any folder here lets you navigate however far you wish into that directory. It's similar to tabs so you can quickly access additional folders.

Path Navigator. A bar which sits below the Tab Bar and on top of the directory area shows the path of the rightmost file or folder. By selecting the desired path component, you can "navigate" to that component using this ingenious feature. A real time saver.

To recap, Path Finder has three bars immediately below the tool bar which you can customize to facilitate the placement of often-used items. How you use them is up to you. The bars and drawers allow you to customize Path Finder to your heart's content.

View Options. Path Finder offers more than 70 choices, including many sort options. You can customize text, background colors, and background images in list and column view. Finder offers about 12.

Drop Stack. This is a temporary holding area at the top of the sidebar in which to place files you are going to move elsewhere. It's the most efficient way to move multiple files.

Spotlight Results. Results now include not only size, but also date created, date modified, Path, and parent directory.

Fonts and Icons. You can adjust the font, font sizes, and icon sizes in the sidebar. It's surprising how much more readable you can make the sidebar.

Customizable Item Labels And Colors. You can assign custom colors to Labels. For those with an eye for color, this is an attractive feature.

Cover Flow. Unlike the Finder, Cover Flow mode in Path Finder works with any view mode —list, column, or icon.

Smart Sorting. When this choice is turned on, Path Finder lists items in the following order — folders, applications, packages, and files. You can customize the order in Browser Preferences. I no longer have to start all folder names with a space to achieve this result.

Internal Applications. Path Finder contains internal applications to accomplish some tasks (such as opening Terminal, TextEdit, or Preview) so you no longer have to use multiple utilities that take time to open, do a quick operation, and close to accomplish these tasks

StuffIt. Path Finder uses the StuffIt engine so you don't have to separately install or run StuffIt.

Customizable Contextual Menu Items. Path Finder provides options to create disk images, compress and e-mail selected files, and open the current directory in Terminal. If you don't like these choices, there's also a Customize Menu option that lets you add or remove items from the menu.

Application Launcher. This feature in the Processes section helps you launch the apps in your Applications folder.

Bundled image editor. You can do some elementary editing in Path Finder.

File cut and paste support. If you prefer to do a cut and paste as opposed to a copy and paste when you move files, Path Finder 5 can handle it; Finder can't. It pastes, but it copies, not cuts.

Running list of processes in a drawer. This is a simplified version of Activity Monitor which also lets you move to other apps. It's also somewhat similar to the Dock.

Substantially Replace Finder. Enabling the "Set Path Finder as the default file reviewer" option under the Reveal preference pane results in many commands from applications being sent to Path Finder rather than to the Finder. This doesn't work perfectly since some apps still invoke the Finder

Time Machine. You can't use the Time Machine's restore function unless the Finder is running. I only launch Finder when I need to use Time Machine's restore function.

CONCLUSION — The good news: Path Finder is extremely powerful, versatile and can be customized in countless ways. The bad news: Path Finder is extremely powerful, versatile and can be customized in countless ways. Although not cheap at $40, it is well worth the price for those who can take advantage of its many features. There's a trial version available for you to test.

Path Finder makes the Mac computing experience much more efficient and will be a continuing source of delight as you discover new and better ways to accomplish your tasks.

— Mark S. Bazrod, Editor